


They Don't Know That We Know What They Don't Know

by Baeinette



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Identity Reveal Scenario, Class Bonding, Other, Slight Aged up characters, still in high school though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-10-03 00:38:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17273810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baeinette/pseuds/Baeinette
Summary: Fun twist on a identity reveal. Inspired by a concept for the Spiderman Universe that I had read (will link once I can find source again).





	1. The Reveal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can also be found at https://baeinette.tumblr.com/post/181649951054/they-dont-know-that-we-know-what-they-dont-know

Max figured it out first. It logically made sense and when all the evidence was brought together, there was no denying it.

He told Kim and Nathaniel after school while working on a chemistry project.

At their next dare, Kim told Alix, who didn't believe him at first. Until he beat her in arm wrestling.

Alix relayed the news to the girls. Rose was surprised to hear the news, but it didn't seem to shock Juleka too much. Mylène nearly fainted when she heard, thankfully Ivan was there to catch her.

Sabrina was even looped in, but sworn to secrecy to not tell Chloe under any circumstances.

And that’s how a majority of Miss Bustier’s class found themselves at Dupont on a Friday afternoon in an empty art classroom.

“Now I believe we are all on the same page. But I'll repeat it just in case.” Max pushed up his glasses that were starting to slip on the bridge of his nose. He surveyed the room where a majority of people nodded their head in response. He glanced around the room to make sure all the blinds were drawn. Kim was stationed by the door in case anyone tried to come in.

“We have all learned the identities of Team Miraculous. Their identities correspond to the five classmates who are not here.” A PowerPoint clicked on behind him and an image of the five heroes in question appeared. With the click of a button the screen changed.

“Now the one we already all knew but should be stated.” A yellow superhero and corresponding civilian photo appeared. “Chloé Bourgeois is Queen Bee.” This was already public knowledge, but was a good starting point for this conversation. After a moment, there seemed to be no comments, so Max continued.

“Next is Carapace, or as we know him, Nino Lahiffe.” Photos of the two side by side showed the crazy similarity of the two. Max was thankful that the Ladyblog was so faithful to its’ mission and had high quality photos of all the heroes.

“I can't believe Nino is running around in green spandex.” Alix couldn't help but chuckle from the back. A few other classmates agreed with her before quieting back down.

“I can't believe 5 of our classmates are superheroes. Which leads us to the third member of the team.” Max turned his attention back to the screen. “Rena Rouge also known as resident Ladyblogger, Alya Césaire.”

“Alya must be losing it working alongside Ladybug.” Mylène pointed out. “Imagine having to report on yourself for the Ladyblog.” 

“I wonder if she's taken selfies with the team yet. I wouldn't put it past her.” Alix added. The group began to mimic silly poses before Max cleared his throat. Everyone returned their attention to the front of the room before as he spoke.

“Finally the last two members of the team, who just make sense to list together rather than separate.” One last slide appeared on screen and showed four photos this time. An audible gasp could be heard throughout the room despite everyone already knowing what was to appear.

“Chat Noir is our supermodel heart throb, Adrien Agreste and Team Miraculous’ fearless leader Ladybug is none other than our everyday Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

The room was silent as the group stared up at the screen. It had been two years since Ladybug and Chat Noir appeared in Paris. Two years that they had been sitting in this classroom with them. Two years that they all had been guessing and betting who the heroes behind the mask might have been.

Even though they had all discussed it, seeing the photos and saying it out loud was pretty jarring. There were no funny quips with this reveal, no comments on how they hadn't realized it before. Only stunned silence.

“What do we do now that we know their secret?” Nathaniel was the one to break the stillness of the room. Kim cut Max off before he could answer.

“We help them! We gotta keep their identities safe ya know?” A few nodded in agreement at his excitement before returning their attention to Max.

“Kim is correct. The best course of action is to help preserve their identities. How many excuses have the five of them given our teachers? To their parents? To us? It's only a matter of time until more questions start arising from other people so it's our job to help and intervene.” He held up his phone before continuing.

“I have already set my phone up to send me an alert whenever an akuma is reported being spotted. That way, we can know when they might possibly need an alibi. I suggest you all do the same.” His phone pinged as he spoke. “It looks like there's one at the Seine right now actually.”

No one even reacted to that comment. Akumas were so regular at this point that there was no use in worrying.

“The important thing is, we can't let them know that we know. Anything we do to help needs to be done without arousing suspicion. They have too much to deal with being students and being superheroes, so learning that the entire class also knows will only add more stress.” Max turned off the projector and closed his laptop.

“For all we know, they don't even know each other's identities. It's not our place to reveal them to anyone outside of this room.” The room grew quiet again as everything sunk in once more. The weight of this responsibility.

A hand at the back of the room slowly rose before the individual spoke.

“Why wasn't Lila invited?” Ivan’s voice seemed only curious about the decision, and a few of the other classmates quirked a brow once they realized the absence as well. 

“I worried in divulging such information to Lila once finding this all out. While she has been nothing but kind to us, she is the newest and least known individual in our class. We have heard of her speak ill about Ladybug before and she has been akumatised three times at this point.” Max folded his hands and chose his words carefully.

“Now I know I can probably speak for all of us in this room, being akumatised was not an enjoyable experience, and I believe we all try our best to prevent it from happening again. Several of us have even been successful at warding off akumas since. So I believe that Lila might be welcoming the chaos an akuma brings, which means she is actively working against the team and should not be privy to this information.” He gazed at his classmates who nodded in agreement at this information.

Max grabbed his bag and made his way towards the door before speaking one last time.

“So. Who's going to help the team finish their English papers tonight?”


	2. Late Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops I keep thinking about this AU so have some more
> 
> Also at https://baeinette.tumblr.com/post/181683891894/tdk-chapter-2-late-again

“Stupid akuma, stupid Hawkmoth, stupid school.” Marinette sprinted through the school courtyard trying to make herself less later than she would already be to Ms. Mendeleiev’s class. At least the akuma appeared during lunch, but the chase it caused across the city made the time it took to take it down much longer than it needed to be.

She took the stairs two at a time as she quietly crept up the the classroom door, peeking in to make sure the teachers’ back was turned before she slowly tiptoed in and towards her desk.

“Marinette.” Her voice was cold and Marinette couldn't help but jump at the sudden interjection among the current physics lesson. Marinette hunched her shoulders in embarrassment and turned to face the front of the room. The room was oddly silent compared to other times that her being caught would warrant a few snickers. She took a deep breath before looking up to meet her teacher’s gaze.

“Ms. Mendeleiev, I’m so-” She was cut off from relaying whatever excuse was about to tumble out of her when the classroom door swung open with a figure rushing in. Marinette wasn’t the only one surprised as her teacher turned abruptly to address the newcomer.

“What is with all these interup-”

“So sorry for being late Ms. Mendeleiev. The akuma had blocked off my street and I couldn’t get past until it was taken care of. I ran here as fast as I could, please forgive me.” Kim panted as he relayed his apology to his bewildered teacher. Marinette stayed frozen for a moment, unsure what to do with the sudden interruption before she was pulled into her seat by Alix.

“Just go with it, maybe she won’t even remember you came in late.” She slid a worksheet over to the blue-haired girl while continuing to watch the front of the room. Marinette took the worksheet and quickly pulled out her notebook and textbook to make herself look ready for class.

Alix was right though. Ms. Mendeleiev appeared to have completely forgotten about Marinette’s interruption as Kim continued to apologise until he was shooed to his seat.

“Okay okay just sit back down and grab a worksheet. Do not make this a habit Mr. Kim.” She gestured at him with the marker still clasped in her hand before turning back to her whiteboard to pick up where she left off.

Marinette was stunned for a moment as Ms. Mendeleiev began to drone on about basics of electromagnetism. She. . .wasn’t in trouble? She must have been making some sort of face and zoned out because she felt Alix nudge her foot with hers and snap her back to the lesson.

“Don’t zone out now Mari, you already got away with showing up late.” She spoke in a hushed tone before pointing out things on Marinette’s worksheet with her own pencil. “Insulators work because their electrons are more tightly bound.”

“Oh, thanks Alix.” Her eyes scanned the room and noticed that everyone was now working in pairs on the worksheets that had been previously handed out. She grabbed her own pencil and scribbled in the answer before trying to decipher what this assignment even was. How did she get so behind in this class?

Oh right. This was the 4th akuma in two weeks and Marinette’s brain was so fried that she didn’t even know what day it was. Chat and her had decided to increase patrols due to the sudden uptake in attacks, enlisting the rest of Team Miraculous to take shifts to help ease the load. That didn’t stop her from taking the most shifts though, and it was clear that it was starting to impact her school work.

“I just sent you my notes for this week. You seem like you could use them. ” Alix angled her finished worksheet in her partners’ direction as she fiddle with her tablet to shoot off an email to her. “Feel free to just copy down my answers, it’s just a worksheet anyway and we are doing this in pairs so it’s not like we are cheating.” She flashed a grin to her friend and flipped through the relevant chapter in her textbook for review.

Marinette’s tablet chimed softly as the email of notes arrived in her inbox and she turned her attention back to the assignment at hand. She was too tired to push back on copying down answers and began to fill out the worksheet quickly. Part of her was relieved that she didn’t have to think this class period, she wasn’t sure she had the mental capacity to.

A few minutes later, Ms. Mendeleiev came around and collected the worksheets and concluded the end of her class for the day. A soft sigh escaped Marinette, thankful to have survived another class without too much hassle, though she had Alix to thank for that. She made a mental note to remember to bring in a bag of sweets to thank her for her trouble. For now though, she just needed to make it home and get some much needed rest before tonight’s patrol. 

~~~

“Again, sorry for the disturbance Ms. M! Next time I will run even faster to class.” Alix had hung back and rolled her eyes a bit, being one of the last remaining students besides Kim. She snagged his sleeve and dragged him out of the classroom with a laugh.

“Come on now, we are gonna be late for the next class if you keep apologising on being late to this one.” He looked down at her sheepishly and moved out of earshot of the classroom with her. Once they were farther down the hallway Kim spoke up.

“So, pretty believable? I was doing push ups outside before running in to add to the effect. “ He flexed his muscles to support his claim and she could only roll her eyes.

“Ms. Mendeleiev didn’t even know how to react when you burst into the room. I would say it was quite the success.” Alix adjusted her shoulder bag to hang more comfortably at her side. 

“Marinette was out of it all class still so I sent her this week’s notes. She looks like she hasn’t slept at all this week.” She glanced off to the side, fidgeting with the strap of her bag as she recalled how disoriented her classmate had been.

“Well all we can do is help her, and the others, in whatever way we can you know?” Kim tried to assure her as they entered the cafeteria, being aware that they kept their voices low. He brought his hand down to catch her fidgeting one and intertwined their fingers together. Alix blushed slightly and felt a stubborn pout cross her lips but she didn’t remove her hand from his. 

“You’re right. We help them when we can. That’s the best we can do.”


End file.
